


The Tale of the Queen and the Contest, and the Storyteller, and the Story

by DroughtofApathy



Series: A Thousand Lifetimes [10]
Category: Original Work
Genre: F/F, Gen, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Implied/Referenced Murder, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, Life and Death situation, Queendom, Stage Play, Story Cycle
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-28
Updated: 2019-01-28
Packaged: 2019-10-17 23:21:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,053
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17569874
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DroughtofApathy/pseuds/DroughtofApathy
Summary: A Story Cycle About Tales Told and Lessons Learned. A Play in Two Acts.There once was a queen who wanted to take a wife; a storyteller. The woman who told the best story would become a queen herself, and those who couldn't...would die. Hardly the best odds. Bards are fools, bards are brave. And from across the land, they came to tell the queen a story. Not knowing if it would be their last.





	The Tale of the Queen and the Contest, and the Storyteller, and the Story

**Author's Note:**

> Look I wrote a play. This is loosely inspired by "One Thousand and One Nights" and the stories within the story are either inspired by writing prompts or old murder ballads. "The Cruel Mother" is actually a Scottish ballad, and similar stories have been in folklore across Europe.
> 
> Note: sorry for the strange formatting. This was originally written in official play script format, and it apparently does not translate well to AO3.

Cast of Characters

 

LYRA (Queen, Tarsem, Father, Eve, Townie):

Red. Tall, redhead, Caucasian.

MITRA (Queen, Father, Babe, Sundari, Townie, Storyteller):

Blue, Small, South/Southeast Asian.

NADINE (Queen, Tarsem, Mother, Townie):

Green. Curly/natural hair. African-American.

OSANNA (Queen, Desa, Bess, Townie, Dragon):

Violet. Hispanic/Latina

PAIGE (Queen, Cruel Mother, Madge, Father, Townie): Yellow/gold. Caucasian.

 

Setting

The Queen’s court. Ambiguous time, ambiguous setting. Think _One Thousand and One Nights_ type thing, but different. And like…way more lesbians. There are few set changes. Mostly just the actors moving to and fro. Everything is very fluid. No one is technically any one role. Everyone’s switching off, and some characters are played by multiple people.

 

Notes

  * When casting, descriptions matter little. Our actor, Lyra, just happens to look stunning in red, so she wears red. However, this story is about a melding of cultures. Do not cast a homogenous cast.
  * Although, it’s rather interesting to cast the tallest as “Lyra”, and the smallest as “Mitra” or vice versa. They play opposite quite a bit, and the height different is always fun.



 

# Prologue

 

SCENE:                   _A theater-in-the-round. The stage is set as a thronelike room. Silks of beautiful colors hang from the ceiling, and cushions lay scattered across the floor. There is an opulent couch for the ruler, and a raised platform off-center for the storyteller. The decorations and style should be a mixture of Persian, Indian, Southeast Asian, and even some other cultures like West African, and European._

 

_AT RISE:                 The actors take their places on the dark stage. Each is clad in a signature color, yet there is no discernable style of dress._

 

PAIGE

Once upon a time…

 

LYRA

Ugh, please.

 

PAIGE

Ah-hem. Once _upon a time_ there lived a-

 

OSANNA

King!

 

NADINE

Emperor!

 

LYRA

Tsar!

 

PAIGE

Sultan!

 

MITRA

No.

 

LYRA, NADINE, OSANNA, PAIGE

No?

 

MITRA

No. Not a king, but a…Queen.

 

ALL

A Queen!

 

( _LYRA reclines on the throne. She is haughty. Regal. Untouchable.)_

 

OSANNA

Once upon a time, there was a queen.  And the queen decreed she wished to take a wife.

 

PAIGE

(shocked)

A wife?

 

NADINE

(thoughtful)

A wife…

 

MITRA

(smug)

A wife.

 

LYRA (QUEEN)

Yes. A wife. I wish to take a wife to be my queen.

 

MITRA, NADINE, OSANNA, PAIGE

She wishes to take a wife to be her queen.

 

NADINE

But how to find one? A wife of a queen should be-

 

MITRA

Brilliant.

 

PAIGE

Beautiful.

 

OSANNA

Strong.

 

LYRA (QUEEN)

Perhaps. But I want something more. Creativity!

 

MITRA

The queen loved, more than anything else, a good story. Once upon a time, there was a queen who wished to take a wife to be her queen. And the queen wanted a woman who could weave tales of beauty and splendor. Who could make her laugh, and make her weep.

 

OSANNA

But the queen was…temperamental. More than anything, she hated a trite and overdone story. And as the queen summoned every storyteller in the queendom and beyond, she threatened to put to death any who displeased her.

 

LYRA (QUEEN)

Any bard that wishes to subject me to a story without splendor shall die.

 

MITRA, NADINE, OSANNA, PAIGE

Gasp!

 

NADINE

But bards are brave. Bards are fools. And a girl’s got to fight for her rightful share.

 

OSANNA

So, from across the lands, the storytellers came.

 

LYRA

Over oceans, and across deserts. Oh, did they come. To treat with a queen, and tell her their tales, they set their souls on the line.

 

LYRA (QUEEN)

Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to my palace. Welcome to my home. Step right up, my darlings. And tell me a tale of wonder and glory. Spin me a story of tragedy and death. But take care, my dears. Choose your words, and make them count, for if you don’t your story shall be your last. Make me cry, make me feel. Speak and be heard. Speak for a queen and perhaps you may become one yourself. Begin!

 

OSANNA

Once upon a time…

 

LYRA (QUEEN)

No.

 

( _OSANNA is dragged away.)_

 

OSANNA  
No, please!

 

PAIGE

Long, long ago…

 

LYRA (QUEEN)

Out!

 

( _PAIGE leaves screaming.)_

 

PAIGE

You didn’t give me a chance!

 

MITRA

There once was a…

 

LYRA (QUEEN)

You’ll have to do better than that.

 

( _MITRA is struck down._ )

 

MITRA

Don’t touch me!

 

LYRA (QUEEN)

Is this the pinnacle of talent? Give me something good. Give me something new. Give me-

 

NADINE  
The monsters in this world are not always under the beds!

 

( _NADINE_ _cowers before the QUEEN. LYRA (QUEEN) stops. She stares down at NADINE, intrigued)_

 

LYRA (QUEEN)

Go on…

 

# ACT I

## Scene 1

 

Scene:                   _The actors shift. They whirl around, changing positions and demeanors. LYRA exits the throne, replaced by NADINE. OSANNA takes the storyteller’s stage on the dais)_

 

OSANNA

There is a young girl. Her name is Tarsem. She is not yet old enough to wed, yet already has lost her flower.

 

LYRA (TARSEM)

I did not understand at first. Why he would-

 

( _LYRA (TARSEM) bows her head in shame.)_

 

PAIGE

She does not fear the monsters under her bed. Not when the true monster slithers _into_ her bed each night as the sun goes to sleep. He is the man who gave her life. And now, he comes to claim what is his. There is no harm taking what he wants when the girl is not yet old enough to run into…trouble. But children grow up.

 

MITRA (FATHER)

And she grows up to be so very pretty. Just like her mother. I will take what belongs to me.

 

OSANNA

He goes to the girl time and again.

 

MITRA

He rapes her. His own daughter. She does not fight back.

 

NADINE

He rapes her. His flesh and blood. She does not scream.

 

LYRA (TARSEM)

He rapes me. I do not fear the monsters under my bed when there is one next to me. I can’t fight. I can’t scream.

 

 

 

PAIGE

If she runs away, it will only happen again with another man somewhere else. Somewhere dangerous. So, the girl stays.

 

MITRA (FATHER)

Take off your clothes, my little princess.

 

LYRA (TARSEM)

Father, please!

 

NADINE

Every night, she begs him not to. She begs her own father not to press his erection into her dry womanhood. She is no longer a little child. Her moonblood comes, and she sobs in relief and horror. Her father does not touch her when the blood flows from her vagina. Then, he finds another way.

 

(MITRA (FATHER) raises her fists against LYRA. LYRA curls into a ball. She begs.)

 

MITRA (FATHER)

You are filthy! Disgusting little whore! I will plant a baby in your belly yet!

 

LYRA (TARSEM)

Father, please! I’m sorry, please I’m sorry! I’m sorry!

 

OSANNA

But the monster is on the bed. He is inside her. The monster is a man, and he is her father.

 

LYRA

He wants to put a baby in his daughter’s belly.

 

MITRA  
 A baby of his own in his own baby. But that is easier said than done. For the girl, the young woman, won’t do that.

 

PAIGE

She drinks tea each night. Tea that stops her womb from quickening. She will not carry his child for she is his child. Women have their own ways of winning the war, even if they often lose the battle to a man’s iron fist.

 

 

OSANNA

When her father finds out, for he must find out, he flies into the worst rage he has ever had.

 

MITRA (FATHER)

You’ve been killing my kids? You stupid little bitch! I’ll teach you to fuck with me!

 

NADINE

For the first time, the girl fights back with her fists.

 

LYRA (TARSEM)

I won’t carry that abomination! I won’t! Don’t touch me, you bastard!

 

( _LYRA (TARSEM) swings her fist at MITRA (FATHER). She strikes her father across the jaw. MITRA (FATHER) roars in anger. She lunges at her.)_

 

OSANNA  
Tarsem runs. For the first time, she runs far far away where her monster on the bed can’t touch her ever again. Over seas, and through forests. She runs and runs until she stumbles upon a cabin in the woods.

 

( _LYRA (TARSEM) twirls, and TARSEM become NADINE)_

 

PAIGE

It’s there she meets Desa, the woodcutter’s daughter. And the woodcutter’s daughter is-

 

NADINE (TARSEM)

Beautiful…

 

MITRA

She invites the weary runaway inside.

 

OSANNA (DESA)

Come inside, miss. Have something to drink.

 

NADINE (TARSEM)

She offers me something to drink. And a bed. A bed where the monsters stay below. I feel safe. I feel loved. At night, no

NADINE (TARSEM) (cont.)

father enters my bed. At night, it is only I…and Desa, the woodcutter’s daughter.

(NADINE (TARSEM) giggles. She drawn OSANNA (DESA) into her arms. They kiss. They giggle. It is adorably sweet and innocent. We root for their happiness together.)

LYRA

They make love in Tarsem’s bed. The woodcutter’s daughter sooths the runaway through her nightmares. As the sun shines overhead, the two young women kiss in the garden. They kiss in the kitchen, and the forest, and the attic.

 

NADINE (TARSEM)

I had been so alone, and so broken. But she brought me into her arms, and the world opened wide. With her I am home, and I shall never be this happy again.

 

PAIGE

The young lovers live happily ever after…

 

MITRA

…except not really. Because the monsters are not always under the bed. And sometimes, the monsters are not evil at all. And one day, the woodcutter’s daughter goes to the market place.

 

LYRA (TOWNIE)

Have you heard the news?

 

NADINE (TOWNIE)

Simply tragic. The poor child lost in the woods.

 

MITRA (TOWNIE)

I heard her own father! Tsk, tsk, tsk.

 

PAIGE (TOWNIE)

They say he’ll pay anything to get her back. Anything at all.

 

OSANNA

Now, you have to understand. The woodcutter and his daughter were so very poor. They hardly had enough money to feed themselves, let alone the poor girl. They were so hungry, and

 

OSANNA (cont.)

hunger does terrible things to a person. And the girl’s father was offering ten thousand rubles.

 

LYRA (TOWNIE)

Ten thousand!

 

MITRA (TOWNIE)

Ten thousand.

 

ALL

Ten thousand.

 

OSANNA (DESA)

I had to do it. But- but I’m sure she will be alright. She must be. Besides, it’s her or me, and life isn’t fair. We are starving, and my father and I need the money. I have to do it. You’d do the same if you were standing where I am.

 

PAIGE

She chose herself, and to hell with everyone else.

 

MITRA

Even the one who loved her most. Because the monsters are not under the bed.

 

OSANNA (DESA)

Sir!

 

( _OSANNA (DESA) rushes up to LYRA (FATHER). They speak to each other in hushed tones. LYRA (FATHER) smiles cruelly. They start for the house.)_

 

OSANNA (DESA)

Wait here, sir.

 

_(She goes inside, embracing NADINE (TARSEM) one last time before stepping back. NADINE (TARSEM) is confused.)_

 

NADINE (TARSEM)

Desa, what’s wrong? Desa? Oh, gods! Desa! Father, no, no please!

 

LYRA (FATHER)

You thought you could run from me, girl? You are nothing, you little bitch! Nothing.

 

_(LYRA (FATHER) strikes her. Hard, fast. NADINE (TARSEM) screams.)_

 

OSANNA (DESA)

There, just like I said she would be. Take her. Take her and leave the money.

 

NADINE (TARSEM)

Desa. Desa, please, tell me you didn’t. Tell me you didn’t do this to me!

 

OSANNA (DESA)

I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. But we are starving. And nobody’s innocent.

 

LYRA (FATHER)

I thank you, girl. Enjoy.

 

(LYRA (FATHER) throws a purse of money onto her bed. Tarsem’s bed.)

 

NADINE (TARSEM)

NO!

 

MITRA

The father takes his daughter back home. She does not fight. She does not struggle. He takes her to her bed. And rips away her clothes.

 

OSANNA

He spreads her legs. He rapes her.

 

LYRA  
He rapes her. His own daughter.

 

PAIGE

He rapes her. His own flesh and blood.

 

 

 

NADINE (TARSEM)

He rapes me. Again. And this time, my belly swells. This time, he has what he wants. Me, his child. And it. _Our_ child. But I won’t let him.

 

MITRA

The young woman gave up. After the betrayal of her lover, she had nothing left. Nothing to care about.

 

OSANNA

And the woodcutter’s daughter had given her the knife…

 

NADINE (TARSEM)

I won’t bring this baby into the world, father. You made the bed. But I’m going to lie in it.

 

( _NADINE (TARSEM) sinks the dagger with a scream. LYRA (FATHER) roars. She tries to stop her. She fails.)_

 

OSANNA

She stabs herself. Again…

 

PAIGE

…and again…

 

NADINE

…and again…

 

LYRA

…until finally, she dies. But she has learned her lesson. The monsters are not under the bed; they are on it, and in it, and in her. The end.

 

(NADINE sits on the throne, the queen. She is crying. OSANNA, the storyteller, bows at her feet.)

 

NADINE (QUEEN)

That story. It did not have a happy ending.

 

OSANNA  
Not every story can end happily, your majesty.

 

 

NADINE (QUEEN)

Very well. You may live. Think of another one, and we shall see if you can do it again. And perhaps your story may turn out this time. Or perhaps not. Now, who is next in line?

 

ACT I 

## Scene 2

 

_SCENE:                   The QUEEN sits on her throne. The bards wait in line, anxious and scared._

 

PAIGE

Call me Ishmael…

 

NADINE (QUEEN)

Next!

 

LYRA

In fair Verona, where we lay our scene…

 

NADINE (QUEEN)

Something original.

 

MITRA

“Well, Prince, so Genoa and Lucca are now just family estates of the Buonapartes.”

 

NADINE (QUEEN)

I’ve already heard that one. Terribly long.

 

OSANNA

She buried her babes beneath an old oak tree.

 

( _beat_ )

 

NADINE (QUEEN)

Proceed.

 

ACT I

## Scene 3

 

_SCENE:                   NADINE rises from the throne. OSANNA takes her place as the story begins._

 

MITRA

_THERE WAS A LADY DWELT IN YORK:_

 

ALL

_FAL THE DAL THE DI DO_

 

LYRA

She buried her babes beneath an old oak tree. After she stabbed the child through the heart with a long sharp knife. That’s how the story goes. That is what they say.

 

PAIGE

They say she fell in love with her father’s store clerk, and got in a family way.

 

MITRA

They say she couldn’t handle the child, and pressed the knife to his chest. They say the blood flowed freely, upon the grassy clearing.

 

OSANNA  
They say the woman saw three children, whist walking down the lane. Two dressed in silk and satin, the other bare as day.

 

MITRA

_She fell in love with her father’s clerk,_

 

ALL

_Down by the green wood side._

 

NADINE

They say she told the child, had he been hers to raise, she would have given him those silks and satin robes. But the child simply sneered at her, angry and discontent.

 

PAIGE

For they say the child was hers, and this was what he said:

 

 

 

MITRA (BABE)

Mother, dear, I once _was_ yours, but here is where you’re wrong. You never dressed me any way, and for your sins you’ll burn. In the fire beyond hell’s mouth, in the heat amongst the damned, you’ll burn and burn forever.

 

PAIGE

And that was how the story went. But we’re just getting started. The mother lied, the child died, and the story ended. Or at least, that’s what they say. But perhaps the truth is not so clean.

 

MITRA

_SHE LAID HER HAND AGAINST A STONE,_

 

ALL

_FAL THE DAL THE DI DO,_

 

LYRA

I propose another story. I propose another tale. For why would the cruel mother stab a knife through her child’s heart? Why would she claim to clothe another in silks and gold and jewels when her own babe lay under an oak tree, buried in the soft earth? They say she fell for a man. Her father’s clerk.

 

OSANNA  
They say so many things about the cruel mother. But they never ask why.

 

NADINE

Why she stabbed the child, why she cut his chest. Why she claimed to clothe another, and hug him to her breast.

 

MITRA

_AND THERE SHE MADE MOST BITTER MOAN,_

 

ALL

_DOWN BY THE GREEN WOOD SIDE_

 

PAIGE (CRUEL MOTHER)

I loved that child with all my heart, but could not bear to see him live. Please believe me, I beg of you. I loved my babe with all my heart, but knew he must have been cursed.

 

MITRA

No one ever knew, but the cruel mother, what happened to her womb. When the babe came, she nearly died, and when the babe

MITRA (cont.)

came, there were once two. Yes, my dears, that is right. Two children in her womb, but only one survived the birth.

 

OSANNA

The cruel mother gave birth in a forest, away from all civilization. She gave birth alone and cold in the forest.

 

LYRA  
And when she saw what the babe had done, she sobbed and screamed and cried. But she pressed the babe to her chest. She loved that babe with all her heart, but knew what he had done.

 

MITRA

_SHE TOOK A KNIFE BOTH LONG AND SHARP,_

 

ALL

_FAL THE DAL THE DI DO,_

 

PAIGE (CRUEL MOTHER)

When my babe came into this world, I saw what he could be. He screamed and cried when he was born, as every baby does. But wrapped in his tiny fist was the umbilical cord. He pulled and yanked, and would not let go, and at once I knew.

 

MITRA

There still remained another child, still within her womb. She arched her back, and screamed to the gods, but in her heart, she knew. She knew the baby dead and gone, yet the labor continued.

 

NADINE

She gave birth to a corpse that night, his face all dark and blue. The cord lay wrapped round his throat, and still the other pulled. Yanked and squalled, and would not let go.

 

MITRA

_AND STABB’D HER BABES UNTO THE HEART,_

 

ALL

_DOWN BY THE GREEN WOOD SIDE._

 

PAIGE (CRUEL MOTHER)

I pried his little hand free, and clutched him to my chest. I wept for his soul, and for his brother’s too. I loved that babe, believe me. I think I still do.

LYRA

But the babe that lived, so pink and fine, was cursed from the moment he came to be.

 

OSANNA  
For so long the mother convinced herself nothing was truly wrong. Her milk went sour, her money gone, the mirror shattered on the ground. She found the cat dead out back, and the well water poisoned.

 

PAIGE (CRUEL MOTHER)

For so long I thought it strange, but couldn’t see the truth. Children are innocent, and so is mine. Please believe me, I did not know.

 

MITRA

_AS SHE WAS GOING TO THE CHURCH_

 

ALL

_FAL THE DAL THE DI DO,_

 

NADINE  
But the babe was cursed. He had the devil in his eye.

 

PAIGE

The devil’s gleam, the demon’s curse.

 

LYRA

And you remember the father’s clerk. The mother’s lover, the babe’s dad. So plebian and poor. But he loved that babe, and loved that woman. He saved, and saved, to bring his child up right.

 

OSANNA

The town sneered and judged. They hated that boy, and who he was. So the babe’s father rented a carriage, and intended to run away. He rented an old carriage, and took the babe into his arms. He rode off into the night, to meet the mother where it all began.

 

MITRA  
But the babe was cursed. The babe was wrong. The babe survived the crash.

 

LYRA

The carriage rolled, the horse spooked, and the wood came crashing down. The man screamed out, and tumbled round. And

LYRA (cont.)

when at last the dust settled, the father’s clerk lay dead and gone, a stake right through his heart.

 

NADINE

The cruel mother found them there, her lover broken and dead. But the babe, oh the babe.

 

MITRA

_SHE SAW A SWEET BABE IN THE PORCH,_

 

ALL

_DOWN BY THE GREEN WOOD SIDE._

 

OSANNA  
The babe did not wail, he did not cry, instead the babe just laughed. Crawling on all fours, he laughed at the scene before him.

 

PAIGE (CRUEL MOTHER)

He crawled along, covered in blood. My lover’s blood, his father’s blood. Yet not a scratch was on him. His eyes gleamed, and his laugh rang out. He survived the crash. My little baby, small and fine, survived what killed a grown man.

 

LYRA

And the cruel mother knew it. She knew what he could be.

 

MITRA  
_BABE, OH BABE, IF YOU WERE MINE_

 

ALL

_FAL THE DAL THE DI DO,_

 

NADINE  
She loved that babe with all her heart, but could not bear to see him live.

 

MITRA

_I’D DRESS YOU IN SILK AND SATINS SO FINE_

 

ALL

_DOWN BY THE GREEN WOOD SIDE_

 

MITRA

_Mother dear, I once was thine_

 

ALL

_Fal the dal the di do,_

 

OSANNA

She took the child into the trees, and tied him down into the grass. She could not bear to see him live. She could not bear to let him pass.

 

MITRA

_YOU WOULD NOT CLOTHE ME COARSE OR FINE_

 

ALL

_DOWN BY THE GREEN WOOD SIDE_

 

PAIGE (CRUEL MOTHER)

I murdered my child. I murdered my babe. My own little baby, I stabbed with a knife. I aimed for the heart, I meant to kill. If I didn’t do it, he would. Please, believe me, I loved my boy. Please, believe me, I still do. But it was him or me, don’t you understand? Either I took his life, I killed my boy, or I’d end up like his brother and father before.

 

LYRA

She stabbed her child right through the heart.

 

PAIGE (CRUEL MOTHER)

But he was cursed!

 

OSANNA  
She stabbed her own babe and watched him bleed out.

 

PAIGE (CRUEL MOTHER)

Please, please. It’s not my fault!

 

NADINE  
She watched him die, and buried him there.

 

PAIGE (CRUEL MOTHER)

The boy killed his brother and father!

 

MITRA (BABE)

_MOTHER, MOTHER, YOU KNOW RIGHT WELL._

 

ALL

_FAL THE DAL THE DI DO_

 

PAIGE (CRUEL MOTHER)

I did what I had to do! He had the devil in his eye!

 

MITRA (BABE)

_FOR I’S IN HEAVEN, AND YOU IN HELL_

 

ALL

_DOWN BY THE GREEN WOOD SIDE._

 

PAIGE (CRUEL MOTHER)

No, no please!

 

LYRA

She burned in hell.

 

MITRA

That’s how the story goes.

 

PAIGE (CRUEL MOTHER)

Some of us don’t like the way you’ve been telling it.

 

OSANNA  
Burned and burned.

 

PAIGE (CRUEL MOTHER)

They said I killed him in cold blood. They said I buried him, and burned in hell. They said so much about my life. But they don’t know a thing about me. That babe would have been the death of us all, believe me.

 

LYRA

There was once a woman of York. She killed her babe with a long sharp knife. Buried the child under an old oak tree, and saw the child playing in the field. The child told her she’d burn in hell, but the mother, perhaps not so cruel, just laughed. Laughed and laughed and laughed. Her town was safe, and so was she. And when she went to burn in hell, she would see her son there too.

 

OSANNA (QUEEN)

You speak as though you know this sort of story well. Perhaps from experience?

 

MITRA

Tis only a story, my queen.

 

 

OSANNA (QUEEN)

Yet I sense I am right. You lost a child, didn’t you?

 

MITRA

Yes, your majesty. But not my own.

 

OSANNA (QUEEN)

Very well. Fear not, you shall not join the child today. Someone come, tell me a story. Cure this sadness, or make me bawl.

 

ACT I

## Scene 4

SCENE:                   OSANNA sits in her throne. She presides over the others.

 

NADINE

(at a loss)

There was a…cabaret and there was a master of ceremonies and there was a city called Berlin in a country called Germany. It was the end of the world…

 

OSANNA (QUEEN)

Too melodramatic. Try again. I’m feeling generous.

 

MITRA

They say you can see your future in the long row of candles, stretching back and back and back into the depths of the mirror.

 

OSANNA (QUEEN)

I know this story well. Too well. Move along.

 

LYRA (desperate)

The highwayman came riding, riding, riding. The highwayman came riding, up to the old inn door.

 

OSANNA (QUEEN)

Did I stutter before? Give me something original. Something I’ve not heard before.

 

LYRA

(frantic)

Wait! Wait… the highwayman came riding, yes, alright that’s true. The highwayman went riding. But what of Bess, the landlord’s black-eyed daughter with the love knot in her hair? What if she survived, and lived to tell her tale, and what if she one day took up the mantle, and became a highwaywoman herself?

 

OSANNA (QUEEN)

You’ve hooked me. Continue.

 

ACT I

Scene 5

 

_SCENE:                   OSANNA exits the throne, MITRA takes her place._

 

MITRA

The story goes like this: a highwayman goes riding, falls in love with a landlord’s daughter.

 

NADINE

Bess, the landlord’s black-eyed daughter with a blood-red love knot in her hair.

 

OSANNA

But Bess, the black-eyed daughter, has caught another’s eye. Tim the ostler waits, and jealousy takes hold. When he sees the highwayman kiss the landlord’s daughter, and take her in his arms, Tim the ostler vows to make him pay for that one night.

 

PAIGE

The highwayman rides to go and meet her, but the soldiers come and tie the girl up. Tim betrayed them all, and Bess, the landlord’s daughter, knows it.

 

LYRA

They place a musket at her breast, and wait.

 

OSANNA

They wait for the highwayman to go riding.

 

PAIGE

Riding.

 

NADINE

Riding.

 

MITRA

They wait for the highway man to go riding up to the old inn door. But Bess, the landlord’s daughter, shoots herself before he comes. The gunshot scares him off, and he rides away. But when he realizes what has happened, he rides back down the road. And they shoot him dead in the road, dead like a dog in the road.

 

OSANNA

Some say that at night, when the moon’s a ghostly galleon, the highwayman will come riding.

 

LYRA

Riding.

 

MITRA

Riding

 

OSANNA

The highwayman will come riding up to the old inn door. He’ll come for the landlord’s daughter, Bess. Bess the landlord’s dead daughter, plaiting a dark red love knot in her hair.

 

LYRA

But say the girl survived. Say she lived to tell the tale. For the gun that she used to shoot herself was filled with blanks. Or maybe she never shot herself at all. Who’s to say, really? She survived through the night. And when the highwayman came riding, she watched him die in the highway with a bunch of lace at his throat.

 

NADINE

But Bess, the black-eyed woman, vowed revenge that very night.

 

OSANNA

She grabbed up a loaded musket, and aimed it at the soldier’s heads. She blew their brains out with a scream. A scream so loud and horrible and piercing that the tenants in the house ran hiding for their beds.

 

PAIGE

The soldiers fell around her like dogs. Down like dogs in the moonlight. And Bess, the landlord’s daughter, packed up her things and fled.

 

NADINE

She plaited back her raven hair, and donned a French cocked-hat, vowing to carry on her lover’s legacy. She became a highwaywoman, with a lace collar round her throat. She robbed the rich, and killed the men.

 

LYRA

The highwaywoman rode, with vengeance in her veins. She cut down the man who once lusted for her face. He died like a dog on the highway, and she laughed right in his face. The

LYRA (cont.)

highwaywoman went riding, riding, riding. The highway woman went riding and only hell should bar the way.

 

OSANNA (BESS)

Men are not the only ones who have all the fun. And a highwaywoman gets more than any man.

 

MITRA (TOWNIE)

Did you hear about the woman? The one robbing the highway?

 

LYRA (TOWNIE)

I heard she strips those rich bastards right down to their skivvies. And makes them lie down in the road like dogs.

 

NADINE (TOWNIE)

I heard she kisses ladies. I heard she’s really good.

 

PAIGE (TOWNIE)

Did you girls see the picture? I wouldn’t mind getting robbed by her.

 

MITRA (TOWNIE)

So hot.

 

NADINE (TOWNIE)

So strong.

 

PAIGE, LYRA (TOWNIE)

So completely badass.

 

( _They all giggle. OSANNA saunters around, brandishing a rapier.)_

 

LYRA

On the night she met a woman, a hazy mist crossed over the sky. It obscured the full moon’s light, casting eerie shadows on the highway.

 

NADINE

The carriage came rolling down the highway, and the woman lay in wait. The horses trotted on the highway.

 

MITRA

And in that beautiful carriage sat a woman with lips as red as blood. T’was Madge the rich man’s daughter, braiding a

MITRA (cont.)

bright blue ribbon in her hair. And the highwaywoman saw her through the curtained glass. She saw the beautiful woman, and her heart sped up.

 

OSANNA (BESS)

I knew I had to have her. As long as she wanted me too. Her beauty blew me away, and her lips looked full and plump. I knew I had to have her, so I laid in wait.

 

PAIGE (MADGE)

The night was cold, and air so still. My sister slept as our carriage rolled along. But I could not bear to lay down my head when the forest looked so beautiful and peaceful.

 

LYRA

The highwaywoman crept up, her horse’s hooves silent in the night. The highwaywoman snuck up, and struck the driver in the side. He tumbled from the carriage, and died beneath the wheels. The horses reared and spooked, but the highwaywoman swiped her sword and cut the great beasts loose.

 

NADINE

The carriage rolled to a stop, still in the cool night. And the highwaywoman opened the carriage door. She sat astride her stead, her French hat cocked to the side.

 

PAIGE (MADGE)

Please, miss, please. What is it that you want?

 

LYRA

The highwaywoman smiled, beneath her lovely hat. She slipped down from her horse gracefully, sweeping her hat off with a flourish. And the highwaywoman bowed deeply to the beautiful girl.

 

OSANNA (BESS)

Do not fear, my darling. For I only want just one thing.

 

PAIGE (MADGE)

Take it, then. It’s yours.

 

OSANNA (BESS)

It is you I want, my darling. That is my price. You are free to refuse it, darling. But I might not be so…nice.

 

( _NADINE (SISTER) grasps PAIGE (MADGE) hand. She shakes her head frantically, but PAIGE (MADGE) pulls free.)_

 

PAIGE (MADGE)

I am yours, my beautiful lady. Take me far away.

 

NADINE (SISTER)

Do not fall for it, sister! She is an evil bitch, and will surely kill you. You’ll end up like the others, lying like a dog in the highway.

 

OSANNA (BESS)

Come with me, my sweet. And you shall never want for anything. We will ride the highways by moonlight, and dance beneath the trees.

 

MITRA

And Madge, the rich man’s daughter, took the highwaywoman by the hand. They rode off into the moonlight, riding hand in hand.

 

LYRA

The highwaywoman smiled triumphantly, and led the horse right home. She brought the rich man’s daughter to a little cabin made of sticks and stones. And down they laid upon the little bed all filled with straw. They kissed in the moonlight, and laid each other bare.

 

NADINE

The highwaywoman shone brightly, her dark hair falling down. And Bess, the landlord’s daughter, with eyes as black as coal, kissed the rich man’s daughter with lips as red as blood. She pressed her lover down, and touched the ribbon in the girl’s hair.

 

MITRA

The ribbon reminded her, of a night so long ago. When the road was but a ribbon of moonlight over the purple moor. And a highwayman came riding.

 

OSANNA

Riding.

 

PAIGE

Riding

 

ALL  
A highwayman came riding up to the old inn door.

 

LYRA

But in that very moment, with Madge beneath her weight, the highwayman faded away. Her dead lover faded away, in favor of the rich man’s daughter, with the bright blue ribbon in her plait. Oh, how beautiful Madge, the rich man’s daughter looked. Golden haired, and doe eyed, the rich man’s daughter reached for her.

 

NADINE

They kissed each other in the moonlight. And loved each other in the moonlight. And as they laughed and loved, Madge, the rich man’s daughter asked her just one thing:

 

PAIGE (MADGE)

Oh, highwaywoman, my beautiful lover, answer me this. Will you go…riding?

 

( _OSANNA (BESS) and PAIGE (MADGE) laugh.)_

 

MITRA

And the highwaywoman went _riding_ …

 

PAIGE (MADGE)

…riding…

 

OSANNA (BESS)

…riding…

 

MITRA

The highwaywoman went riding across her lover’s thighs.

 

LYRA

And when at last they settled, their skin cooling in the night, the rich man’s daughter took Bess, the highwaywoman’s wrists in her hands. She pressed soft kisses to the scars, from ropes and knots and ties. And she asked the highwaywoman what had happened. She asked what no one ever had. And she kissed the mark upon her breast. The mark where the musket fired.

 

 

 

OSANNA

And the highwaywoman told her. Her past, her name, her life. She told her everything. She feared the woman would judge her, or run far, far away, but Madge, the rich man’s daughter, just held her tight and let her cry.

 

PAIGE

And just for one night, they loved. They loved and lived and cried together. And fell asleep in the moonlight, curled around each other.

 

NADINE

But there! Did you hear it? They had to have heard the footsteps. The hoofsteps ringing out. They must have been deaf not to hear them. For the sister and the soldiers went riding. The kingsmen came up marching up to the old cottage door.

 

OSANNA

There was death at each dark window.

 

PAIGE

And doom before their eyes.

 

MITRA

There was no musket to warn them away from the soldier’s wrath. And the soldiers stormed the house; dragged the highwaywoman from her nice warm bed. They dragged the highwaywoman from her bed, with nothing to cover her shame.

 

OSANNA (BESS)

They forced me to my knees. Naked as the day. Forced me down onto the ground like a bitch.

 

PAIGE (MADGE)

They forced her down to the ground, and shot her like a dog. And I watched my love bleed out on the ground of her own home. Watched her die on the ground like a dog in the sunlight. And I raised my fists, and screamed.

 

LYRA

And the highwaywoman’s lover died with her. Died on the ground like a dog. And still, on a summer’s night, you’ll hear.

 

MITRA

When the sun peaks above the horizon line, and the wind rustles the trees. A highwaywoman goes riding…

 

PAIGE

…riding…

 

OSANNA

…riding…

 

NADINE

A highwaywoman goes riding up to an old cottage door. She’ll clatter across fields, and skip right through the door. She’ll sweep up her lover, and pull her to the bed.

 

LYRA

And Bess, the landlord’s daughter, with a dark red love knot in her hair, will kiss her pretty lover. Madge, the rich man’s daughter, with a bright blue ribbon in her hair.

 

( _LYRA bows her head, stepping back.)_

 

MITRA (QUEEN)

Such a haunting tale. Sad endings are ever so much sweeter. But do tell me, my bards from across the lands. Will no one give me a story that won’t devastate my very soul?

 

ACT 1 

 

## Scene 5

 

_SCENE:                   MITVA sits on the throne. She arches an eyebrow, waiting. No one moves._

 

MITRA (QUEEN)

Well? Will no one step up to the task? Surely a happy story is not too much to ask. Very well, no takers. Alright, have it your way. If you wish to proceed uninterrupted, I promise to keep silent. At first…You, my dear, yes you. Tell me a story.

 

NADINE

Happily ever afters are far and few between. Not in this world, your majesty. I know so few stories where those of my skin thrive in a place like this, so you must forgive me if I have little to say. I respectfully have to decline.

 

MITRA (QUEEN)

I understand, my bard. Go forth and prosper if you can. But remember this my sister, telling a story of something unknown is half the fun. Your life may be sad and dark, but a story can bring just a sliver of light. Will no one take the plunge?

 

PAIGE

I will, your majesty. If it pleases you, I believe I have a tale.

 

MITRA (QUEEN)

Then speak and be heard.

 

PAIGE

Once upon a time…

 

( _MITRA (QUEEN) raises an eyebrow in warning. PAIGE just smiles.)_

_  
_

Act I

 

## Scene 6

 

PAIGE

Once upon a time…there lived a young woman who longed to be someone. But in this world, in this sad, sad world, a woman could not be anyone. Not a leader, nor a doctor, nor a…queen. A woman could not be anything but a wife and mother, and for many it was enough.

 

LYRA

But not this young woman. No, not her. She longed to be something better. Someone stronger, and independent. At night, she dreamed of a better world than the one she lived in. But each morning, she woke up to the same damn thing.

 

NADINE

Nothing changed, and sometimes she thought nothing ever would. And when at last a change occurred, she regretted ever thinking it.

 

OSANNA

Her father and mother sat her down one day to give her the good news. That they’d closed the deal, and finally found her a future to be proud of.

 

NADINE (MOTHER)

My darling, we’ve found you a husband! A handsome young man who you’ll just adore, I know it.

 

LYRA

The girl stared at her parents in horror.

 

PAIGE (FATHER)

Oh, come now, dear. He is a good man with enough money to keep you and your old parents comfortable for the rest of our lives. We’ve arranged a meeting tomorrow.

 

MITRA (SUNDARI)

But father, please. I do not wish to marry. I have plans! Please, I can support myself, and you both. I can do it.

 

OSANNA

But the girl’s parents had already closed the deal. The boy’s family offered them a deal they couldn’t refuse.

 

LYRA

They sold her.

 

NADINE

They did what they had to do.

 

LYRA

They traded her away!

 

OSANNA

It’s only tradition. You can’t understand.

 

LYRA

You know nothing of what I understand.

(LYRA storms away. OSANNA and NADINE just shake their heads.)

 

MITRA (SUNDARI)

I won’t be married off.

 

( _MITRA (SUNDARI) hurries to tie her bedsheets together.)_

 

PAIGE

The young woman, Sundari, was a clever one. But she had a duty to her family. With no brothers, and three younger sisters, she had to marry well. Sundari knew this from the very beginning. She needed to marry a man of status and wealth.

 

MITRA

She had a duty to her family, sure, but not for this. She couldn’t be forced to do this. To marry a man she didn’t know, and be forced into his bed. She wouldn’t be married off. So, she tied her bedsheets to her bed.

 

OSANNA  
She knew she could never come back. She knew she’d dishonor her family, and bring shame to their name. She knew she’d never be forgiven.

 

MITRA (SUNDARI)

It doesn’t matter. After tonight, nothing will matter.

 

 

NADINE

After her family went to sleep, she tossed her bedsheets out the window, and with a sack slung round her shoulder, she clambered over the edge.

 

PAIGE

And as she climbed down her home, on those snow white bedsheets, she saw her.

 

OSANNA  
She saw her.

 

LYRA (EVE)

She saw me.

 

MITRA (SUNDARI)

I saw her. With a sack slung over her back, climbing down her bedsheets.

 

LYRA (EVE)

And I saw her. Her hair so dark, her skin so brown. The most beautiful woman I’d ever seen.

 

PAIGE

The other girl stared in shock, already smitten. Sundari’s opposite in every way, the young woman slipped to the ground. With crimson curls, and pale white skin, she shone in the moonlight. And just like the first young woman, this one ran from an unwanted marriage.

 

LYRA (EVE)

I did tell you I understood.

 

NADINE

In the dark of night, the two young women made eye contact with each other over the wall. Two women who were to be sold like cattle, and who refused to conform.

 

MITRA (SUNDARI)

My name is Sundari. I’ve lived across from you for years, but we’ve never spoken.

 

LYRA (EVE)

Eve. My name is Eve.

 

 

 

OSANNA

They’d lived on opposite sides of a wall, leading such different lives for years and years.

 

NADINE

One was rich beyond measure. A snow-white pearl beloved by all.

 

PAIGE

The other a dark-skinned girl, surly and defiant.

 

LYRA

But somehow, they connected that night.

 

MITRA

They ran to the town square, and sat by the fountain. And they talked for hours. And for Sundari, no one had ever talked with her like that before.

 

LYRA

And for Eve, Sundari changed her world. In just a few short hours she changed Eve’s world.

 

PAIGE

Two women against the world.

 

OSANNA

With barely enough money to get through a week between them.

 

NADINE

They ran. Ran and ran and ran.

 

PAIGE

But there’s one thing about this world you do not yet know.

 

OSANNA

It’s a world with magic.

 

LYRA

Magic?

 

MITRA

Magic…

 

NADINE

Yes, magic. And every story needs a good hero.

 

LYRA (EVE)

It’s you and me, my love. Heroes against the world.

 

PAIGE

Soon everyone in the land heard of two young women galivanting across the kingdom.

 

OSANNA

Two women who made it their mission to save the world.  

 

NADINE

And every village they passed through, they saved someone. It wasn’t always something big.

 

LYRA (EVE)

A single child.

 

MITRA (SUNDARI)

A mother.

 

LYRA (EVE)

A cat.

 

MITRA (SUNDARI)

No, now that was definitely something big and important.

 

(They smile at each other, hand in hand.)

 

PAIGE

They save abused women.

 

NADINE (WIFE)

Please, my husband beats me every night. Please, I won’t let my child see me like this.

 

MITRA (SUNDARI)

He will not touch you again.

 

( _MITRA (SUDNARI) and LYRA (EVE) nod at each other. They raise their sticks, and start to the house. OSANNA (HUSBAND) holds up her hands warily.)_

 

 

OSANNA (HUSBAND)

Hey, now. Let’s talk about this.

 

LYRA (EVE)

I think not, you bastard. You will not harm any woman ever again.

 

_(The two women proceed to beat him with their sticks. They are successful._

 

NADINE (WIFE)

Thank you!

 

LYRA (EVE)

He will never harm you again. For if he does, we will know. And we will not be so forgiving a second time.

 

OSANNA

They save a village from an evil vampire hunting them each and every night.

 

PAIGE (WOMAN)

Please, my children cannot sleep at night. They fear he will come for them too.

 

MITRA (SUNDANI)

Fear not, we shall take care of it.

 

NADINE

They plotted to seduce the vampire.

 

LYRA (EVE)

I’m going to seduce the vampire!

 

MITRA (SUNDARI)

She’s going to seduce a vampire. Fantastic. And let me be on the record, my love. I am not in favor of this little plan of ours. What if he bites you? What if you die? What if I lose you? I couldn’t bear it if he had you.

 

LYRA (EVE)

But he won’t, I promise. You’ll be there near my side. You’ll protect me, and slay him, and hunt him down. Nothing will happen to me, my love.

 

MITRA (SUNDARI)

I wish there was another way.

 

( _MITRA (SUNDARI) bows her head. LYRA (EVE) hugs her tightly. They kiss.)_

 

OSANNA

They did it anyway.

 

LYRA

When the sun went down, and the moon was just a sliver, the young women went into the forest to meet the vampire.

 

MITRA

Sundari stayed back, hiding amongst the trees.

 

NADINE

And Eve did not. She waited in the forest, shedding her cloak.

 

PAIGE (VAMPIRE)

And when I saw her lying there, so pretty and pale. I knew I had to have her there.

 

LYRA (EVE)

He pressed me up against a tree, kissed my neck, and stroked my breasts. I couldn’t breathe, I couldn’t move.

 

MITRA (SUNDARI)

And when I saw them standing there, my heart and soul filled with rage and anger. He touched and caressed and Eve looked so sick. But when he began to lift her skirts, that’s when I struck. I’d had it, I was through. I’d seen enough.

 

OSANNA  
The young woman saw her lover pinned to a tree.

 

PAIGE

Helpless.

 

LYRA

Panicked

 

NADINE

So afraid.

 

OSANNA  
And did what she’d come to do. She grabbed the monster, and threw him down.

 

LYRA

And before he knew it, she stabbed his heart. With a wooden stake, she killed him dead.

 

MITRA (SUNDARI)

I killed him dead right there on the forest floor. And watched his blood run red across the forest floor.

 

LYRA (EVE)

I searched my neck, but not a bite could be found.

 

OSANNA

But even with the undead dead and gone, the poor young woman still could hardly breathe. T’was weeks and weeks before she could.

 

PAIGE

Before she could stop feeling him against her skin.

 

NADINE

But the village people thanked them, and showered them with gold.

 

( _The people cheer, and shower them with golden flowers or something.)_

 

OSANNA  
They didn’t do it for money, except enough to eat. No, they did it so no one would ever feel as trapped as they.

 

PAIGE

But then one day they were traveling, and the people came to beg. They asked for too much, and the two grown women, no longer quite so young, accepted a task so great, they feared it would be their last.

 

NADINE (VILLAGER)

Please, there’s a dragon that lives atop the mountain. It comes down and demands a sacrifice each and every year. We give it one of our own.

 

LYRA

They give the dragon one of their own, yes that is true.

 

 

 

MITRA

But the one they give up is already gone. The ugliest, the dumbest, the most useless of them all. They give up who they can spare. They give up the spares.

 

NADINE

The people beg them to help their long-lost cause. For there are few more ugly beings to give up to the dragon’s claws. They beg and plead, and offer all they have.

 

OSANNA  
And in the end, the two grown women, so tired and nearly done, accepted the town’s request to slay a dragon dead.

 

LYRA (EVE)

We’ve slain vampires, and wraiths, and werewolves. What’s a dragon to us?

 

PAIGE

They climbed up the mountain. Up up the mountain top. Surviving wind, and storms, and lightning. The two women, no longer quite so young, climbed up the mountaintop, and stuck their heads in the dragon’s lair.

 

MITRA

But remember what we tell you, about stories and about tales. Nothing is ever what it seems, and the monsters are not under the beds. Dragons are not monsters, not always at least.

 

OSANNA (DRAGON)

Welcome travelers. Have you come to slay me then?

 

( _The sacrificed are alive. They are happy and alive.)_

 

LYRA (EVE)

That depends on you, my dragon. Are you someone we need to slay?

 

OSANNA (DRAGON)

Look around and you tell me. We are happy here. These people are not sacrifices.

 

 

 

MITRA

No, those people were not sacrifices at all. Unwanted by their own, the dragon took them far far away. Somewhere safe and happy and theirs.

 

OSANNA (DRAGON)

You are welcome to stay. After all this time, you deserve to rest.

 

NADINE

And the two grown women were no longer young.

 

LYRA (EVE)

But there are so many people who need our help!

 

MITRA (SUNDANI)

We are no longer young. My love, I am tired. My love, I am cold. I wish to remain here with you, and worship you to my dying days. And my heart is longing to stay.

 

LYRA (EVE)

Then you shall have your way.

 

PAIGE

And they stayed. Until their dying days. They stayed, and lived happily ever after.

 

MITRA (QUEEN)

It’s a beautiful story. But it must be true what they say. You’ve done well, and my heart is whole, but happiness is not always the answer. Tell me a story. Break my heart once more.

 

( _MITRA rises, and PAIGE takes her place._

_  
_

ACT I 

 

## Scene 7

 

_SCENE:                   PAIGE is queen. She waits for another story._

 

PAIGE

I have heard so many. Enough to fill an entire year. But none have yet…touched me…you, my dear. Tell me a story.

 

NADINE

Two jews, a rabbi, and a priest walk into a bar…

 

PAIGE (QUEEN)

A story, not a joke.

 

OSANNA

We’ve told all the stories we know!

 

PAIGE (QUEEN)

If you can’t handle it…

 

MITRA

Fólkvangr does not discriminate.

 

PAIGE (QUEEN)

Go on…

 

** ACT I  **

## Scene 8

 

_SCENE:                   PAIGE vacates the throne. LYRA takes a seat. She listens._

 

MITRA

There is a world beyond death where the fallen souls may rest. No, wait. There are many worlds, many afterlifes. But this one is different. This is a world where those who have fallen in battle come to rest.

 

PAIGE

They tell their stories of how it all happened.

 

NADINE  
Of how they met their untimely demise.

 

OSANNA

And for so long, Fólkvangr only saw soldiers just like Valhalla before her.

 

PAIGE

And warriors.

 

NADINE  
And those who fought in battle.

 

MITRA

But Fólkvangr does not discriminate. And the gates open to all. To those who have lost their fight. Fólkvangr takes them all, and treats them just the same. Those who have lost their battle, with sickness…

 

LYRA

And childbirth…

 

PAIGE

And even what cannot fight back.

 

NADINE

The bottle.

 

PAIGE

The mind.

 

LYRA

The very soul.

 

MITRA  
Those who fought against others. And those who fought against themselves. All are welcome in Fólkvangr. And all have a story to tell.

 

PAIGE

A woman is talking to death. She enters the grand old gates.

 

( _OSANNA (ABUSED WOMAN) looks around longingly.)_

 

OSANNA

She does not believe she belongs. After all, when soldiers are dying for their country, what space is left for a battered woman?

 

NADINE

But Fólkvangr does not care what sort of battle is fought. All are welcome here.

 

LYRA

So, the woman sits down at the long table, and starts to tell her tale.

 

OSANNA

For nineteen long years, she fought each day and survived. She saw no glory for winning. Only another sunrise where it began again. She did not go down a hero. She did not die a saint.

 

MITRA

No, she died a woman. Just a battered woman, with bruises on her face, and fear in her soul. She died just a woman who lost that final fight. And here among the losers; the men both large and small, who’s to say it’s over? That it’s over at all?

 

PAIGE

But in time the bruises heal. There is no way to injury in Fólkvangr. The bruises heal and so does she. She grows stronger and more sure every day.

 

NADINE  
There are other people like her, who fought and survived each

Nadine (cont.)

passing day. Until that was, they didn’t. Those people surround her. They hug, and kiss, and comfort.

 

OSANNA

And soon the woman realizes, she did not lose any battle. She did not lose at all. She survived for so very long. And now she’s come to Fólkvangr. She is not any loser. No. She won.

 

LYRA

And someday when there comes another.

 

MITRA

Another woman with bruises and fear. She’ll hug, and comfort, and kiss her, and together they’ll watch the wounds heal. In Fólkvangr, no one hurts them. No one raises any fist. There is no danger here in Fólkvangr. Not to those who come to rest.

 

( _OSANNA (ABUSED WOMAN) embraces NADINE, another victim.)_

 

PAIGE

A man is talking to death. He crawls through the great iron gates.

 

_(LYRA (DRUNK) struggles to stand upright.)_

 

NADINE

On Earth, his body rots.

 

OSANNA

Rots without a grave. A forgotten corpse lying dead in a forest. He drank himself to death.

 

LYRA

How can a man such as he; who has done such terrible things while at the mercy of the bottle. How can there be room for him? A wretched drunk who had raised a hand to his own young ones once while in a fit of drunken rage?

 

MITRA

But Fólkvangr does not judge. It is open to all those who have fought, and all those who are desperate to change. Perhaps it is too late on Earth, but there is all the time in the world here.

 

PAIGE

The poor man, still dizzy and shaken, sits down at the long white table.

 

OSANNA

He goes to eat his fill when a gilded wine goblet appears. And without thinking, he reaches for it.

 

LYRA

But with trembling hands, the man goes to push it away. For the wonderful purple liquid has brought him nothing but pain.

 

NADINE

It stole his family, and robbed him of his future. Had grappled with the bottle all his life.

 

( _PAIGE slides the cup back to LYRA (DRUNK).)_

 

MITRA

But the woman beside him smiles. She hands him the cup, and tells him all is well. Fólkvangr does not enable. He is safe from temptation here. And the man drinks. It is not wine, nor whiskey, nor any booze. It is the sweetest water he has ever tasted.

 

LYRA

Fólkvangr brings no judgement. The man never drinks again. He grows, and heals, and helps. And when another man, with bloodshot eyes and shaking hands, pushes away his goblet, the man pushes it back. People help each other here. Here in Fólkvangr.

 

OSANNA

A young boy is talking to death. He staggers through the golden gates. His face is swollen beyond recognition, and blood stains his shirt.

 

_(NADINE (BOY) shakes in fear.)_

 

NADINE

He lost his fight. His battle? Surviving an encounter with the very people sworn to protect the people. They killed him dead just for stealing a bit of bread to feed his little sister.

 

MITRA

He hadn’t run, he hadn’t struggled, but still the man in blue shot him down. He dropped the bread, and held his hands up, but still they filled his young body with bullets. He bled out and died in minutes. This young black boy.

 

OSANNA

His body desecrated, his chest skin merely ribbons, he wonders how there can be space for him? And what there is even space for.

 

LYRA

But there is room for all in Fólkvangr. And here, everyone is as they should be. The swelling goes down, and the bullet holes close.

 

NADINE

But he can still feel them. Feel each and every one. When the young black boy sees them walking by; the men in blue who have lost their own battles. He can’t help but run. He holds his hands wide and raises them up.

 

PAIGE

A man in blue sees this, and cannot help but cry. He sees this little boy, scared and alone. And he calls the poor boy over, apologizes for it all.

 

_(OSANNA hugs NADINE (BOY).)_

 

NADINE

Fólkvangr does not discriminate. From those with dark skin, and those with light. People come together, from opposite sides of the war. They all come together, and wonder what it all had been for.

 

MITRA

And when inevitably it happens, when the little sister comes to Fólkvangr. The young boy with no bullet holes in him hugs her dark and emaciated body. He brings her to the table, and next to the men in blue, they eat their fill. The table is long in Fólkvangr, and all are welcome here.

_(MITRA embraces NADINE (BOY).)_

 

LYRA

A girl is talking to death. She has gashes at her wrists, and a heart heavy as bricks.

 

_(PAIGE (GIRL) sinks down to the floor.)_

 

PAIGE

How can there be room in Fólkvangr for a failure such as her? She fought her mind, her heart, her soul. This little girl, miracle of miracles, fought life itself, but never once did she win.

 

OSANNA

But Fólkvangr provides for all. And girls like her most of all.

 

NADINE

Life’s not easy

 

LYRA

Life’s unfair.

 

MITRA

Life asks too much of young girls. And there’s no shame in giving up.

 

NADINE

Death’s not easy.

 

LYRA

Nor is it fair.

 

PAIGE

The young girl, with blood at her wrists, lost the battle with herself. And yet…

 

OSANNA

She got the last word after all. And blood can be washed out in Fólkvangr.

 

MITRA

When she sits herself down, right down at the long wooden table, they ask for her story. And no one tells her she is weak. No one says she was wrong. She has not brought down shame.

 

LYRA

They tell her she is brave.

 

OSANNA

They tell her she is strong.

 

NADINE

The strongest of them all.

 

_(One by one, ALL embrace PAIGE (GIRL). LYRA (QUEEN) goes back to her throne.)_

 

MITRA

She did not fight with her fists, nor her words, nor her claws. She did not fight another body, but her own mind. One that never relented. One that never ceased. Day and night she battled, but alas she did not win.

 

PAIGE

But there is peace and rest here in Fólkvangr. The young girl fought for years, but now here in Fólkvangr, she may lay her weapons down to rest.

 

OSANNA

Fólkvangr does not discriminate.  It is a place of warmth and laughter, for anyone who dies…

 

( _LYRA (QUEEN) stands, towering over MITRA.)_

 

LYRA (QUEEN)

At last I found you…

 

MITRA

The tale is not over yet, your majesty. There are many bound for Fólkvangr. Storytellers and bards. They fought with words, and lost to a senseless, selfish, queen.

 

LYRA (QUEEN)

Remember your place, wordsmith. I can easily have you dead by morning with the rest of them.

 

MITRA

My place is right here, your majesty. Listen to me, and listen well. Once upon a time, there lived a cruel old queen…

 

LYRA (QUEEN)

How dare you!

 

MITRA

That is the story they will tell, my queen. That is the legacy you leave behind should you take their lives. The woman who killed the story. The queen who murdered the tale. Once upon a time a queen went up to Fólkvangr. Hated and despised.

 

LYRA (QUEEN)

I…I never wanted…

 

MITRA

But there is still time, your majesty. No story is set in stone. Change the story, change the game. A queen is talking to death. She sits down at the dark black table. What story will she tell?

 

OSANNA

The regal queen was struck speechless. How dare this woman say such things?

 

PAIGE

But to the court's surprise, the queen demurred before the bard.

 

NADINE, OSANNA, PAIGE

Gasp!

 

NADINE

She knew the bard spoke true, and bowed her head in shame.

 

LYRA (QUEEN)

I’ve been hasty, and unreasonable.

 

OSANNA

Said the queen to the storyteller.

 

LYRA (QUEEN)

And I must beg for your forgiveness. Each and every one.

 

PAIGE

But the storyteller shook her head. She did not want apologies. She’d done what she intended to do; save the stories for another day. Another queen, another land, another time,

 

MITRA

How will your story go, your majesty? Apologies mean nothing if you cannot act. Change the story. I beg of you.

 

LYRA (QUEEN)

Once upon a time…there lived a lonely queen who wished to take a wife. So, she summoned all the bards to her castle, and vowed any who displeased her would die. But through the story of a beautiful and intelligent bard, she saw the error of her ways. But…I’m afraid I don’t recall what comes next. Won't you remind me, oh wordsmith?

 

NADINE

The bard looked at the queen in confusion, but the courtroom gasped in glee.

 

( _Court gasps as LYRA (QUEEN) kneels in front of MITRA.)_

 

OSANNA

The queen knelt, and smiled softly.

 

MITRA

I’m not sure I know what you mean.

 

LYRA (QUEEN)

How does the bard answer when the lonely queen asks her to marry her?

 

MITRA

She says yes, of course. My silly queen. Yes.

 

PAIGE

And the queendom rejoiced.

 

OSANNA

Once upon a time…

 

NADINE

There was a queen of queens…

 

PAIGE

And a storyteller.

 

MITRA

The queen learned a valuable lesson.

 

LYRA

And the storyteller told a tale.

 

ALL

And they lived happily ever after.

 

MITRA

Well…

 

LYRA

As happily as two people could be…


End file.
